Rob Chapman and the Cap'n test the Kemper vs Real amps.

  • HI Sam,/ALL


    Right, strange on the video they mention it may be the talent of the profilers..thanks for clearing that up


    Ash

    Have a beer and don't sneer. -CJ. Two non powered Kempers -Two mission stereo FRFR Cabs - Ditto X4 -TC electronic Mimiq.

  • is it possible to judge the Kemper too quickly... and incorrectly?


    Yes, mate. And not only the Kemper. Most luxury brands would not exist without that fact. Its partly prejudice, partly selective hearing (or any other sensing) and the rest is many times just a matter of taste. Listen again to "satisfaction" of the Stones. Your shirt will never be white enough... in other words: me and the most of us, we are vicitms of marketing efforts :D


    I am a true fan-boy of blind tests. With more serious products like drugs / medication this is even a must! And each and every blind test in my studio was raising eyebrows - if not creating tears of dissapointment. From 16 bit vs. 24 to 48kHz vs 196kHz and MP3 vs WAV. We are hearing very much by our eyes. And this is prejudice.

    Ne travaillez jamais.

  • Quote

    I am a true fan-boy of blind tests.


    Me too..but I do them actually over a few weeks again and again with the same gear..as I said..I dont trust my ears anymore at just one given day.. ;)

  • Actually, while this experiment is a blind test, it would have been better (and even more valid) to conduct it in another way.
    Rob and Lee were sure they could make out a difference between A and B (but couldn't assign it correctly to the amps or the Kemper). So now there are folks on TGP insisting there's a difference still and it's perceivable.
    This assumption is wrong though, because the way the test was conducted here implied a difference between A and B in the first place.
    The setting was: First A is played, and after that B is played. So after A was played, B had to be different.
    If the setting had been: First A is played, and after that A (again) or B, I'm not so sure they would have been able to precisely make out a difference at all.

  • Actually, while this experiment is a blind test, it would have been better (and even more valid) to conduct it in another way.
    Rob and Lee were sure they could make out a difference between A and B (but couldn't assign it correctly to the amps or the Kemper). So now there are folks on TGP insisting there's a difference still and it's perceivable.
    This assumption is wrong though, because the way the test was conducted here implied a difference between A and B in the first place.
    The setting was: First A is played, and after that B is played. So after A was played, B had to be different.
    If the setting had been: First A is played, and after that A (again) or B, I'm not so sure they would have been able to precisely make out a difference at all.



    Well, having looked at the Silverback profile, I can see that they've adjusted the amp parameters etc quite a bit - so authenticity is kind of out the window anyway.


    In any case, I personally don't care if the profiles are 100% accurate to the original. As soon as you slap a mic on a cab it's not just the amp+cab anymore, so authenticity is out the window either way.

  • For me, it's cool that some profiles are able to nail the sound of the amplifier and achieve authenticity.


    But to be honest, I care a lot more about a) great tone and b) convenience. And it should be clear to all now that the KPA has both of those in abundance.


  • Yes, mate. And not only the Kemper. Most luxury brands would not exist without that fact. Its partly prejudice, partly selective hearing (or any other sensing) and the rest is many times just a matter of taste. Listen again to "satisfaction" of the Stones. Your shirt will never be white enough... in other words: me and the most of us, we are vicitms of marketing efforts :D


    I am a true fan-boy of blind tests. With more serious products like drugs / medication this is even a must! And each and every blind test in my studio was raising eyebrows - if not creating tears of dissapointment. From 16 bit vs. 24 to 48kHz vs 196kHz and MP3 vs WAV. We are hearing very much by our eyes. And this is prejudice.


    I wasn't asking, SpinMan; here's the full context:



    Chappers fell into this category, but then it dropped off his radar (it seems) after that studio test he did a while ago. Now, faced with yet another expensive transit bill for his gear for a gig, he chose to take another listen. This is precisely the sort of thing potential buyers want to hear about - is it possible to judge the Kemper too quickly... and incorrectly? Chappers' experience surely would cause many of these folks to take a second, more-serious look IMHO, and in that regard, this video is priceless.


    So, I'm suggesting that the video should prompt a whole lot of people out there to realise that they might have fallen pray to what you and I are both referring to - all those bias traps - and leaped to judgement far too quickly.


    Always great to agree with you, Spinner. ;)

  • Part two :


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  • Actually, while this experiment is a blind test, it would have been better (and even more valid) to conduct it in another way.
    Rob and Lee were sure they could make out a difference between A and B (but couldn't assign it correctly to the amps or the Kemper). So now there are folks on TGP insisting there's a difference still and it's perceivable.


    Yeah, folks on Comedy Central claim they got it right 100% too :) Same credibility.
    TGP is full of cork sniffers most of whom can't even play. I read it from time to time to amuse myself.


    Major (I mean, massive) producers and bands use Kempers and they can't hear the difference or difference is so tiny that it doesn't matter comparing to the costs saved and convenience gained. There is no ifs or buts about it. Kemper changed the game and will have a place in history along Marshall and Fender. Congrats CK, you are a legend. Andertons video is icing on the cake.


    p.s. btw Kemper isn't ideal, but almost there. I still keep and want to own tube amps.

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    Haha, the levelling between AB and B here was really bad. ;)
    The miking of the different cabs wasn't equal either.
    Nonetheless a great experiment and great fun to watch.

  • I found it quite funny how Lee turned what he felt was a tiny difference with high frequencies into quite a big deal when he managed to guess correctly. And, let's face it....... It WAS a guess. Good to see that Chappers is thinking sensibly though, by profiling his amps and touring with the KPA. Well, CK can withdraw his ad from Guitarist Magazine now, as these two videos will have his sales sky-rocketing :)


  • sounded like two diff mics to me.


    It could be 'cause we could only hear the direct feed combined with the playing room's sounds (including voice), Dan, so the positioning of the sources relative to the capture point for the video would've accounted for this IMHO.


    Position, orientation (both technically off-axis, one more so than the other), obscured paths to capture point (furniture and bodies), room interactions from differing locations etc.


  • It could be 'cause we could only hear the direct feed combined with the playing room's sounds (including voice), Dan, so the positioning of the sources relative to the capture point for the video would've accounted for this IMHO.


    Position, orientation (both technically off-axis, one more so than the other), obscured paths to capture point (furniture and bodies), room interactions from differing locations etc.



    Good response and thus my work here is complete. Carry on gentlemen :)

  • This was the most powerful/authentic Kemper video ever made, IMO.


    Most TGP guitarists/scientists and others are missing the point.
    How it sounded to us listening at home was irrelevant, we shouldn't even be part of the equation.
    The authenticity of the 'test' was the fact that Rob Chappers and Lee Anderton were sitting in the room next to a cabinet playing the guitar, they weren't hearing what we were hearing.
    The fact that Chappers was completely fooled by his own signature amp is game, set and match Kemper.
    The fact that Chappers will now tour with a Kemper is the end of the story.


    The second video was very weak IMO, why they didn't set the volumes the same before they started filming was ridiculous.
    Thing is, they weren't thinking about us they were concentrating on themselves, what they were hearing.
    For them the video/test was authentic but NEVER give guitarists sitting at home the opportunity to find a flaw, which we did, different volumes.